Thursday, December 25, 2014

How Dogs Changed Hickory Head

It’s coming up on my fourteenth anniversary of living here.
I move out to Hickory Head back in 2001 and I fenced in what would become my
back yard in July of 2001 once Sam arrived. Bert and Sam lived happily in the
back yard until May of 2007, I believe, when my neighbor told me he was going
to put up a fence at the back of my property so he could keep cows back there.
Gee, with just two more very long pieces of fences and a couple of dozen fence
posts, or more, I could have a really big back yard for the dogs. So after a
lot of effort, more fence posts than I thought, some wiring for the electrical
fence, and some blisters gained from using post hole diggers I managed to fence
in an acre or so. The dogs had never been as happy!

There was a bare spot where it had flooded once but that was
where I had a firepit. I didn’t expect for there to be a lot of vegetation
around that part of the world, but the Southwest corner of the property was a
vast tangle of wild grape vines and briars. Moreover, while there were many
sizable hardwoods there weren’t any smaller Oak trees or anything like that.
There was a large population of white-tailed deer that frequented the area and
made their way down to the pond to drink. I wondered if the fence would keep
them using my property as a path, and it did, but not because of the fence.
Bert and Sam began chasing much larger prey than they ever had before. They
nearly caught a doe once and Bert got kicked right as she flew over the fence.
There was a very nasty gash over his right eye that bled like a waterfall, but
he had a grin on his face.

Strange things began to happen but they didn’t happen
overnight. The dogs began to patrol the back acre on a daily basis which meant
a path was cut around the insider perimeter of the fence. The deer vanished. I
began walking around the property more and I also began keeping the path
cleaner. After a couple of years I noticed there were more and more Oak
saplings popping up and I realized the deer had likely been eating them before.
But the saplings were all being weighed down by those green arrow leafed vines,
the ones with thorns so the sapling were stunted and being killed. A program
was started to cut the vines off the saplings and by the tenth anniversary of
us being here there were some very strong and straight young Oaks. Those who
were already growing grew taller and faster once the vines were gone. Songbirds
have built nests in these trees, including the tree that was near the firepit,
yes, the tree that was knee deep in water earlier this year. That tree wasn’t
around in 2004 when the last flood hit.

When I started getting rid of the vines and the thick
underbrush the dogs started wandering around the property even more. They’ve
created paths that I didn’t led them to create. Lucas, ever the wandering
spirit, began his own trail away from the perimeter trails and Lilith has
followed in his pawsteps.

What I am seeing now is the young trees are beginning to get
high enough off the ground so the vines cannot reach their lower limbs in one
season. I really hurt them a couple of years ago and this year there have
hardly been any young trees with vines in their crowns. The dogs have begun to
hunt in the areas that are more clear, the prey animals they seek are being
crowded into a smaller area, so even more vegetation is being pushed down
around the young trees. Dogs are helping me civilize the back acre so the Oaks
can move in and prosper.

My theory on the dogs helping improve the ecosystem of the
backyard was already forming and already taking shape when I learned that the
wolves that had been reintroduced to Yellowstone were impacting that area in a
very positive way for much of the same reasons. Of course, I was doing work
that helped a lot also but at the same time, the dogs were keeping the deer
from eating the Oaks while I wasn’t around.

The two places where Oaks have really taken hold is at the
back of the old back yard where the old fenceline stood. There are so many
there, all of them well over three meters tall, that I may have to thin some of
them. The other area is the new run of fence facing the west side of the
property. This is the run of fence nearest to where the dog’s water tub stays.
My theory is that deer avoid any area where dogs frequent just like the deer in
Yellowstone avoid going into places where wolves might be lingering.

There is also a stand of young Oaks in the shadows of the
three biggest Oaks at the back of my property; the Dancing Oak, the Middle
Child, and the Big Oak. Those are my doings, mostly, for in that area I have
nearly driven the vines into extinction. On the first real cold day that I can
build a fire outside I’ll drag out the weed eater and do a little more damage
to them.

It’s hard to imagine the Big Oak was once an acorn. It was
once a tiny two leafed sprout. It was once a meter tall and then after it got
away from the vines and the deer and the people, it was a giant. That was well
over two and maybe even three hundred years ago. Maybe one day one of these
trees that I have helped save will tower over the landscape, be a home for
winged singers and furry climbers and provide shade for the better part of an
acre.

It has to start somewhere and if that place is here, I’ll be
long gone before it has a chance to start well.

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The Non Disclaimer

My writing reflects the things I see, think, and experience, and those things in my past that have led me to be me. It is not always pretty, it is not always funny, and no one has ever made mention of my life as a Disney Movie. If sex, drugs, profanity, or a general irreverence for all things religious somehow offends you, well, there are other blogs which will satisfy your need for self assurance.